Denzel Curry Responds To Fan Criticism Over His Yungblud Collaboration “Lemonade”

On Thursday, Denzel Curry announced “Lemonade,” his new collaboration with UK singer YUNGBLUD, on social media. The rapper’s fans posted negative comments on Instagram about the unlikely team-up, and he responded by urging them to give the song a chance. The Carol City, Fla. native also referred to the previous backlash that he received for going on tour with Billie Eilish.

“At the end of the day y'all support me but you don’t own me. I’m not a slave that does music for you guys exclusively,” Curry added. “We’re not a fanbase we’re a family I love making music and I’ll work with whom ever I please so stop with all the nonsense in my comics [sic] and listen before you judge.”

Curry previously opened up about his friendship with Eilish in a June 2019 interview with Go 93.5’s Mr. Peter Parker. “Billie is my friend. That was my friend first before anything,” he said. “We met on some music sh-t but we didn’t even make music together.”

In a statement, YUNGBLUD explained why he reached out to Curry for a feature. “Denzel was the perfect fit because he is a true activist. His lyrics inspire me daily,” he said. “He is an artist who is fighting for the same things as me: equality and inclusion across the f-ckin’ planet.”

Denzel participated in the protests against police brutality in response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and previously called out fans for not understanding the root cause of civil unrest in the United States. He also sounded off against the police’s mistreatment of African Americans on Terrace Martin’s protest song, “PIG FEET.”

On his “Lemonade” verse, Curry raps about the anxiety of merely staying alive:

Life gives you lemons and my only thought is drinkin'
Percy, will I be alive or dead before thirty?
That’s all that concerns me, early
Lemonade quenchin' my inner rage
When it takes to the stage way before they floorin' on my grave

“‘Lemonade’ is about the immense pressure society & circumstance is placing on my brain right now,” he told MetroUK. “It’s about wanting to explode. It’s about the injustice all aspects of my generation is fighting against everyday. When people hear this I want them to release that pressure, lose their [sh-t] together as one because we are stronger together.”

Meanwhile, YUNGBLUD sings about the difficulties of being an adult:

They say, ‘Go be an adult’
Where guns and knives are an antidote
To retain some kind of self-control

“Lemonade” is produced by Mike Crossey and follows YUNGBLUD’s “Strawberry Lipstick,” which he released last month. Curry’s most recent project is February’s UNLOCKED with producer Kenny Beats.

Read all the lyrics to YUNGBLUD & Denzel Curry’s “Lemonade” on Genius now.